Grindelwald found Alive
by NASCARLUCY
Summary: Grindelwald faked his own death and is found nearly 40 years later. How did he manage to elude authorities and what has he been up to?
1. Chapter 1

Two days before Christmas 1982

For decades Queenie had been searching for Gellert Grindelwald whom she believed to be living somewhere in the United States. No one believed her when she said that he was still alive. She was somewhat of an outcast in the magic and wizard community. She had broken up with Jason and married someone else. The marriage lasted less than a year. Jason had taken her back and they had gotten married. After she married Jason, she had been very low keyed about searching for Grindelwald. Many people thought that she had abandoned her search but Jason knew better. They had an agreement that Queenie wouldn't talk about it unless she was certain that she had found Grindelwald. This was the only way for Queenie to maintain contact with family, friends and to keep her status in the magic and wizard community in good standing.

Jason, Queenie and her sister Tina who was recently widowed took a cross country trip by car. They drove from Florida to California which had been uneventful. They were heading back home to the Orlando area. It was starting to get dark and they decided to stop in a place called Defuniak Springs which had a downtown hotel. They decided to stay for a couple of days.

During the night Queenie couldn't sleep and neither could her sister Tina who was in a room next door. In order not to disturb Jacob, Queenie went into the room where her sister was. He woke up briefly when she said she was going to her sister's room to chit chat and then went back to sleep. It was 2:00 a.m. Christmas Eve.

"I keep feeling a strong presence of Grindelwald like he's been here or is nearby."

Usually Tina would roll her eyes like everyone else did, but this time she didn't.

Once the sun came up, Queenie and her sister went down to Lake Defuniak for a walk around the lake which was a mile long. They noticed some old historic homes. As they walked down the street, the feeling that Grindelwald was nearby became more and more intense. Queenie held unto her purse very tight which had the wand in it. She saw the house where she believed either Grindelwald lived or someone who had very strong magical powers. Queenie and Tina debated or whether to go up to the house. A car drove by and stopped as they were walking.

"Are you guys crazy?" said a man who was sitting in a car.

"Jacob."

"Yes, it's me. Let's get some lunch."

They drove past a church called Faith Lutheran Church.

"He's a member of that church."said Queenie,

"Are you sure of that?" said Tina.

"Yes, I am."

A couple of hours later

Faith Lutheran Church was a small church which had about 100 members. They were having a Christmas Eve service late that evening. Jacob had been invited to the service when he was sitting in a park reading the newspaper when a man approached him.

"I'm doing a magic and dog show at the Faith Lutheran Church in the Social Hall. It's free and it's right down the street. Here's a flyer."

Luckly, the man didn't notice the expression on Jacob's face.

Queenie knew instantly what had happened even though she and Tina were in the downtown area shopping.

Gellert Grindelwald knew that someone was passing thru town who was a witch and had strong magical powers. He was 99 years old and had difficulty getting around. He used a motorized chair to get around. In his visions he kept seeing Queenie but he'd been told that she died back in the 1940's during the war. The man that he approached in the park didn't have magical abilities.

"Father, you looked distressed." said the woman who was about 70 years old.

"I have a feeling that someone passing thru town is a witch that has strong magical ability."

Florence tried not to roll her eyes. As her father was aging, he imagined all kinds of things.

"Don't worry about it Father. Everything will be okay. Come on, let's get ready for church."

"Have you totally lost your mind Queenie." said Tina.

"You know, Queenie, your sister is right. If Grindelwald knew you were here, he would try to harm you. He doesn't know, which I find amazing...

Queenie had talked Jacob into going to the magic show. She knew that if the person was Grindelwald he would not recognize Jacob.

Jacob rolled his eyes, when Queenie gave him a wand for protection. On trips, she always carried about 3 of them.

"Welcome to the Grindelwald Magic and Dog Show. This show has been put on every year by Gellert Grindelwald who was been a member of this church since 1947. He started this show about 15 years ago. Without further ado, let me introduce Gellert Grindelwald."said Pastor Mark Brown.

Grindelwald had been careful not to do some of his more powerful spells which would have freaked people out or have people talking. He didn't want a lot of attention. He had to be careful.

The magic show was non-eventful, enough to get people to clap but not enough to amaze them. The same with the dog show although he did have his dogs sing Jingle Bells. He made everything think that he got the idea from a song that came out in the 1970's, but he had done this long before and didn't have to use any stereo or recording equipment. He used his small wand like a conductor.

After seeing the show, Jacob quickly left. He didn't hang around for the church service. He'd seen enough and knew that Queenie had been right all along. No one noticed that he wasn't at the church service.

They quickly packed their bags and left. Queenie cast a spell which removed their presence. Jacob drove all night until they got to their home in Ponce Inlet around 5:30 am. They all were exhausted.

Six a.m. Christmas Day

Florence Grindelwald Davis had been kept up all night by her father who believed that a witch was in town. He expected her to stay up and listen to him talk. She was tired.

"I gave a flyer to a man who was sitting on a part bench. He has a connection to this witch, but I don't know who it is."

"I don't remember seeing this guy at the event. Are you sure you didn't …..

"Florence Grindelwald, I have not lost my mind nor am I crazy, although you seem to think both. The curse is real. A powerful spell was put on me...

Florence tuned her father out as she'd heard this story over and over again. As he got older, he told it over and over again...

From Christmas till the Summer of 1983 Queenie made sure that she knew where her wand was at all times.


	2. Chapter 2

1983

"This is Lisa Wilson, news reporter from WTVE – live in Defuniak Springs Florida. We are about 2 blocks from the Grindelwald family home where several members of the family have barricaded themselves into their farm home and have refused to come out. Police came to the home to serve a warrant on 100 year old Gellert Grindelwald who is accused of committing war crimes during World War II. We have not seen the report but according to officials in France, Germany, England and the US, Mr. Grindelwald as well as his 80 year old daughter Florence Grindelwald and his 60 year old grandson Carl Grindelwald are accused of murdering an unknown number of persons in Germany and Austria. The elder Grindelwald is considered to be the mastermind of the killing. It has been about 10 hours and this stand-off doesn't show any signs of ending anytime soon."

The following day

The next morning TV news cameras were there when Gellert Grindelwald finally surrendered to police after police had arrested his daughter and grandson. He came out in his motorized wheel chair and stopped. Police were walking by his side. Tears were coming down his cheeks. He refused to talk to reporters as he was being taken to a van to be transported to the Broward County Jail.

It had been a long time since Queenie had seen Grindelwald. She had never believed that he had died shortly after the war had ended. She was standing near the entrance of the jail and was waiting for him to arrive. She hid when they brought Florence and Carl to the jail first. When he came out of the van, she had a small wand pointed at him where he could see it. It was a powerful wand that was her protection from him as well as protection against being arrested.

Before Queenie could say something, a reporter asked Grindelwald a question.

"Do you know why you are being arrested, Mr. Grindelwald?" asked news reporter Lisa Wilson.

"I'm being accused of things that I've never done. I've never harmed or killed anyone. If anyone is a victim during World War II, it's me and my family. I was beaten and my eyes burned. My daughter was beaten and raped by the Nazis and my grandson was in a labor camp where he was nearly starved to death. He was also beaten many times.

"That is a lie, Gellert Grindelwald and you know it. This man killed thousands and thousands of people in France, Germany, England, US. He murdered two thousand Russian POW's. He didn't care who they were. He killed Nazis, allied, axis troops, innocent civilians, POW's on all sides anyone that got in his way. He also schooled his daughter and grandson in the school of the dark arts. He's bad news."

"I don't know what this woman is talking about. She has serious mental issues. She's crazy and she's nuts."" said Grindelwald trying to ignore her.

As he went into a garage type area, the garage door started to go down slowly. Queenie was still yelling and he was denying that he did anything. He could see Queenie bending down so that he could see her.

"Murderer, Killer. He sometimes would murder their parents to get them. Sometimes Florence and Carl would kidnap the children or they would be the one who brought the children to the adoptive parents who didn't know that the children were kidnapped. Black Market Adoption."

"I never did those things. Don't listen to her, she's nuts...

The garage door slammed.

Germany – End of World War II September 1945

Gellert Grindelwald knew that the Allies were coming. He knew that his stay at Numergraund Castle would soon be coming to an end. He had been imprisoned on January 3, 1945. Those guarding him at the prison had fled when they heard that the allies were coming. He had been imprisoned for nearly 9 months.

Lieutenant Anthony Romani in 1945 was a 23 year old who had been in the army since World War II started. He was glad that the war had ended but it wasn't quite finished with as there were places that needed to be brought under control. In a couple of months he would be headed home.

There was a castle that was on fire on a steep hill. A bunch of allied firetrucks were there trying to fight the fire. It was a bad one and it was several hours before they could get close to the fire.

"Looks like an arson fire. ." said one of the firemen to Lieut Romani.

Lieut Romani and several men under his command had gone up to the castle to investigate...

"It was the most horrible thing I've ever seen in my life David. There were God knows how many bodies, some were badly burned, others looked like they had been tortured. Some were young, old, some were children, one was a baby. There was one man who had survived this carnage. Right before the fire, he had been badly beaten. He had been a prisoner in the castle for several months and was almost starved to death... he was so thin. He had been arrested by the SS and taken to the castle. The people responsible for this had fled after setting the castle on fire. This was as we were arriving. They were never caught.

David Romani was an Special FBI agent who helped tracked down NAZI War Criminals.


	3. Chapter 3

Late 1945 – The day before Thanksgiving

The only way that Gellert Grindelwald could escape from the castle was to turn himself into a pigeon and fly away. He had cast a powerful spell in which he created a replica of himself and then savagely killed his creation. He stabbed the being several times and then beat it over the head with a blunt object several times. He then set the room on fire and then flew away.

It took him several days to fly from Austria to the US. He didn't like changing from human to bird form., He hitched a ride on an aircraft which landed in place called Wyoming. He was near a town called Cheyenne. He flew to the downtown area, then in a alley way converted back to human form. He could tell that he was in the American West. He'd heard a lot about the American West but didn't really know much about it.

People looked at him as he walked down the street with a old battered suitcase. He looked out of place. The clothing that he wore looked like something out of a different era. Some of the guys dressed like cowboys gave him the look that he wasn't really welcome. He gave them the evil eye and they freaked out and backed away from him. His magic was the only protection he had against these cowboys who would have been delighted to rough him up or knock him out.

It was starting to get dark and he knew he either needed to get someplace to sleep for the night or needed to get out of town. He didn't feel comfortable or safe in the town. It was starting to get very very cold.

There was a place called Hazel Brown Boarding House. Grindelwald turned his clothing into a US air force military uniform, he walked over the to the Boarding House and was given a room for a couple of nights.

Almost immediately Hazel Brown was very suspicious of him. There was no air force base in Douglas Wyoming which was about 125 miles from Cheyenne. How he got to Douglas as the transportation options were rather limited and tightly controlled was anyone's guess.. The man spoke with a heavy Germany accent leading Hazel to believe that he had escaped from the POW camp (a couple of hours away) which was in the process of being deactivated.

Once everyone had gone to bed, Hazel Brown called local authorities to report her suspicions.

Grindelwald who was worn out from his travels failed to pick up on this.

Thanksgiving Day 1945

It was early in the morning when Hazel Brown got up to start cooking breakfast. Her 5 year old niece Shirley was nowhere to be seen.

"Shirley. Shirley."

"I'm in here with Mr. Grindelwald."

Gellert Grindelwald had been up for a couple of hours. He was sitting at a table in the room talking to Shirley.

"I'm sorry Mr. Grindelwald, that my niece bothered you so early in the morning. "

"It's okay. She is a very smart girl, Mrs. Brown. I showed her a couple of card and magic tricks."

Obeying her Aunt, Shirley said goodbye and went downstairs to help her aunt cook breakfast.

"Aunt Hazel, Mr. Grindelwald is a strange looking man."

"Shirley, that's not a nice thing to say."

"He has weird looking eyes."

"Enough Shirley. Please set the table for breakfast."

Usually the boarding house was filled up with US soldiers but on Thanksgiving, Gellert Grindelwald was the only boarder. Bad weather coming in had prevented them from coming. He eat breakfast with Hazel and her nice Shirley.

"I spent 3 years at the camp. I'm going home to Germany."

Hazel Smith knew that Grindelwald had lied to her as the camp in Douglas had housed Italian POWS and it was only after 1944 that German POWS came. She was concerned that he had possibly escaped from the POW camp but then in the last couple of months German POWS had been released. They were taken to the train station in Douglas and shipped out to New York. They didn't stop in any towns or any private homes along the way.

She decided to make no mention of this but would mention it to Police Chief Tanner Green who she had called the night before.

Tanner Green was the police chief of Cheyenne Wyoming. When Grindelwald had gone out for a walk after eating breakfast, Hazel called him and told him what he had said.

"Tell Nancy when he returns. We are going to take him in for questioning today. If we have to arrest him, we will. We don't want to take any chances. This guy is nuts taking a walk as the weather will get worse.

A couple hours later around noon

"Chief Smith, I've been trying to call you for the last couple of hours. Mr. Grindelwald didn't return from his walk. "

"I know. Several people have reported that they have seen him walking in the downtown area. Several officers were dispatched downtown and couldn't find him. We got another report that he was seen walking down the rail road tracks. "

An officer came over to the boarding house and looked around. An empty tattered suitcase was found with nothing in it. When the officer came to the house, he brought Parker McGregor with him.

Parker McGregor was a man who was homeless who often would stay at Hazel's boarding house when it was too cold. He did odd jobs for her in exchange for having a place to stay.

"I heard about this Mr. Grinder whatever his name is. He left town. I saw him downtown trying to leave on a train. He asked me if one left today. I told him no. There's no train going out today. He then started walking down the tracks."

Shortly after the Thanksgiving dinner was completed, the blizzard came in hard and furious. The power and phone went out for several hours..

Shirley couldn't stop thinking about Gellert Grindelwald. She wondered if he'd gotten shelter from the cold. If he hadn't, he was in bad shape. She didn't sleep well that night worrying about him.

After the storm had cleared which was early Friday afternoon, Law Enforcement Officers had gone door to door and building to building looking for Mr. Grindelwald. He was nowhere to be found.

Sheriff Jessie Miller and Police Chief Tanner Smith stood together at a press conference that evening. It was shown at a local move theater. They had a large photo of a man they were looking for.

"This is a picture which was taken of a man named Gellert Grindelwald. He was staying at a boarding house in town. As you can see this man is dressed in a US air force uniform which is not his. He told the owner of the boarding house that he was a German POW who was heading home. We checked with officials at the POW camp in Douglas who don't recognize him and German POW"s who are still at the camp don't recognize this man nor has he ever been a prisoner there. We don't know what his motives are or whether or not he's a spy or engaged in criminal activities. If you see this man, please call police. The last time he was seen was downtown Cheyenne around noon asking someone if he could get a train out of town. He was last seen walking on the train tracks near the downtown area. This was a couple of hours before the blizzard hit, so there is a possibility that if he didn't seek shelter, that he may be deceased. "

After a couple of weeks, the story about Grindelwald was forgotten and the police chief and Sheriff had put the case in a file cabinet where it sat for decades.


	4. Chapter 4

No one in the city jail in Defuniak Springs wanted to deal with Gellert Grindelwald. He was 100 years old. Calls to nursing home within a 100 miles radius were negative as no one wanted to take him in. Finally it was agreed that his 60 year old grandson would be put in a medical cell with him and take care of him.

"I didn't do these terrible things that I'm accused of. I never hurt anyone in my life." said the elder Grindelwald who started crying.

Other inmates who were in the medical unit yelled at him to shut up but he ignored them.

"It's been a wonderful night shift. Between the 100 year old Grindelwald sobbing and crying all night, the inmates yelling and threatening him and his grandson threatening the inmates with harm if they touched his grandfather...

Nurse Clara Fletcher was talking with FBI agents early the next morning. They could hear Grindelwald sobbing. FBI Agents in Wyoming had talked to Shirley Brown from Cheyenne who had called the FBI after hearing about the story. Most of the law enforcement officials who had investigated the case were deceased. The few that were still alive had very vague memories of it. What they had told them was interesting but didn't prove anything one way or another.

Carl Grindelwald got up when he saw the FBI agent. He had gotten his grandfather up and had helped him get dressed. He was sitting in his wheelchair.

"My poor grandfather is scared to death. He's been threatened with violence by the other inmates. I'm the only protection that he has."

"Please don't hurt me. Please, I beg you, Carl, please said Grindelwald in a weak voice.

"We are not going to hurt you Mr. Grindelwald. We need to ask you and your grandfather some questions."

Reluctantly Carl wheeled his grandfather out of the cell and into a room which was down the hall. A lawyer which had agreed to represent the elder Grindelwald was there in the room.

"I escaped from Germany by turning myself into a pigeon and I flew from Germany to Wyoming where I spent Thanksgiving in Cheyenne."

Lawyer Dennis Morris looked at Carl with a strange look on his face.

"He's mind isn't what it was. He told me that he was a German POW who ended up in Douglas Wyoming and was released in 1946. He came to Florida."

"There is no record of your father ever being in a German POW camp in Wyoming. No one there remembers him."

"I turned myself into a pigeon. I really did. You don't believe me do you Dennis nor do you Carl?"

Tears came down Grindelwald's face. He then started sobbing.

"Please tell them to stop it. I haven't been able to sleep. I've been threatened with violence...

"These charges against my grandfather was outrageous. He has never been violent towards anyone. He never spanked or hit his children and he would never harm anyone or anything. These are lies... He never laid a hand on my grandmother, sister or anyone else."

"This is not what a woman named Queenie has told us."

"Unfortunately in my youth, I became involved with a woman named Queenie who was angry when I broke up with her. She attacked with her wand and punched me in the face. "

"Grandpa it was a knife she attacked you with. See this...

There was a scar on the elder Grindelwald's arm which Carl showed to the FBI agent David Romani.

"If anyone should be locked up, it should be this Queenie woman who is a nut case and she told my grandfather that she would ruin his life in anyway she could and this is what she's doing."


	5. Chapter 5

Tallahassee Florida, that evening

FBI Special Agent Gary Scamander got a call from his grandfather Newt confirming that the man in the picture was Gellert Grindelwald. Agent Scamander had watched the interview David Romani did from another room.

Even though Gellert Grindelwald seemed like a frail 100 year old man who was harmless, Queenie, Jason, Tina and Newt knew better. They needed to neutralize him and his two known family members but killing him was out of the question or at least officially. They didn't know what type of magical talents his other family members had. Queenie had decided she needed to act.

Queenie cast a spell so that she could come into the jail dressed as one of the nurses. She was surprised to see that the grandson wasn't in the cell but had put elsewhere in the jail. Everyone else was sound asleep per her spell. There was a terrible thunderstorm outside.

"Gellert, Carl Grindelwald, this is for you.." screamed Queenie.

He woke up and saw her with her wand. There was nothing he could do as she said some strange words and an electrical current went thru the jail cell. It stopped his heart instantly. The grandson never woke up. The same was true of his grandson. Knowing that there was newly installed cameras it looked like an electrical system failure caused a freak accident.

Queenie wasn't finished. The other spells she did were near the county jail. It had been decades but Gellert Grindelwald had taught her well to cover her magical tracks. No one would suspect her of this.

She had put a deep sleep on her husband Jacob who had no clue what she had done.

The next morning Gellert Grindelwald was found dead in his cell, along with his grandson. A inmate at the county jail had stabbed Gellert's daughter to death while she slept.

The powerful spell had worked (the only reason Gellert had a daughter and grandson was because the spell was done after they were born). Carl had no children which was a good thing.

Queenie also did a spell which caused people not to have any interests in the deaths of the Grindelwalds or the case against them.

Within a month, the case was quickly dropped. Newt Scamander never suspected Queenie of having a hand in the murders although his grandson Gary did. Queenie was interviewed by the FBI but nothing came of it. His grandfather made sure that never happened. Even though his grandfather had retired from the FBI and CIA, he still wheeled a lot of influence. He was mostly against the death penalty but considering what Grindelwald did, it was best it all faded away.


End file.
